Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium cultivar Coral Fiction.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Coral Fictionxe2x80x99.
The new Chrysanthemum is a product of a mutation breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Fort Myers and Alva, Fla. The objective of the program is to create new cut Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable colors and good form and substance.
The new Chrysanthemum is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of a proprietary induced mutation that originated by exposing unrooted cuttings of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Fiction, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,734, to X-ray radiation at a dose of 1,750 rads in Fort Myers, Fla. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within a population of plants of the irradiated selection in November, 1998 in Alva, Fla. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence color and good form and substance.
Asexual reproduction of the new Chrysanthemum by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. since March, 1999, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Coral Fiction have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Coral Fictionxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Coral Fictionxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright cut Chrysanthemum that is usually grown as a natural spray.
2. Freely flowering habit, about eight inflorescences per flowering stem.
3. Daisy-type inflorescences that are about 6.7 cm in diameter.
4. Attractive yellow and red bi-colored ray florets and light green to bright yellow-colored disc florets.
5. Response time about 61 days.
6. Dark green foliage.
7. Strong peduncles.
8. Excellent postproduction longevity with inflorescences and foliage maintaining good substance and color for about 21 days in an interior environment.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum are most similar to plants of the cultivar Fiction. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Fiction in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered later than plants of the cultivar Fiction.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum and the cultivar Fiction differed in ray floret coloration as plants of the cultivar Fiction had white and purple bi-colored ray florets.